778 



WILKES. 



ful attempt was made to carry a portion of the Con- north of the river on the night of the 26th, and put 



federate works. The repulse of this column was his army in motion on another flanking ino\. 



d on the smvccding day by a similar rep i ids march was made well to the eastward, so as to 



who had U-cn sent by l,< to demonstrate against avoid a blow on the flank, its objective point hi in" the 



the I nioii right, under the IxTief that another ilauki- the Paniuiikey. an affluent of tin 



movement was in pro.'ic-s. Kwcll was repulsed, with formed by the junction of the North and South Anna 

 a loss of about '.HHI men. 



llurini; these events the cavalry, under (Jen. Sheri- 

 dan, had made a dash on Kirhmond. The North Anna 

 was crossed on the '.Uli. much railroad property and 

 military Mores destroyed, and on the 1 1th some Confed- 

 erate cavalry underlie!!. Stuart was encountered a few 

 miles north of Richmond. A sharp fisht ensued, in 

 which the Confederates were routed and their 

 mortally wounded, the latter a severe loss to their 

 MIICC Stuart had proved himself one of the all 

 airy leaders of the war. Sheridan pushed on nnd at- 

 tacked the defensive works of Richmond, but found 

 them too strong and too well defended for success in a 

 cavalry charge. He leisurely returned and rejoined the 

 army on May 2~>. 



.Meanwhile tlie army was in motion. On the 20th 

 it disappeared from the front of Lee's army, and be- 



Rivers. Possession of this point would g'r 



exci Hi nt water base of supplies at AVI 



while forcing Lee to abandon the line of the rivers 



named. 



Sheridan led the way with the cavalry in this move- 

 ment, and was rapidly followed by the infantry, the 

 Paniuiikey being reached and crossed on the :Mh. a t 

 Ilanovenown. almt !."> miles from Richmond. l.< 

 liad at the same time abandoned his workson tin 

 Anna, and marched quickly southward by the shorter 

 line, and awaited Grant on the Totopotomoy, near 

 .Mi chanicsville. There had been a cavalry Mm 



inity on the >th, Sheridan driving back Hamp- 

 ton and Fitzhugh Lee, who lost nearly suit men, his 

 1 m not being more than half that number. On the 

 ;;oth the advancing infantry came into contact with 

 Lee's forces, and some sharp fighting took place, with 



sharp 



can a flank inarch to turn the position of Spottsyh ania. no decisive advantage on either side. Grant, deeming 

 It had sent its sick and wounded men and its prisoners it injudicious to make a direct attack on Lee's front, 



to the rear, received abundant reinforcements and sup- 

 plies, and moved jubilantly forward, restored to its 

 original strength. The movement was hardly begun 

 before Lee was aware of it and had put his own army 

 in motion. Once more a race between the two armies 

 began, in which Ix-e, having the shorter line, had the 

 advantage. The point aimed for was Hanover Junc- 

 tion, an important railroad intersection, on tin 

 side of the North Anna River. Lee occupied this 

 position on tin- L'-Jd. immediately threw up defensive 

 works, and when Grunt arrived on the 2od, it was to 

 find his antagonist again in his front, strongly in- 

 trenched, and with a river as part of his line of defence. 

 Lee's army occupied a singular position. Its centre 

 touched the stream while both wings were thrown back 

 at an obtuse angle, facing the corps of Warren and 

 Hancock respectively. This put Grant at a decided 

 disadvantage, lor after his two wings had crossed the 

 Mieam they were isolated from each oilier, and to re- 

 inforce either wing from the other il was m ssary to 



make a double passage of the river. Lees army, on 

 the contrary, lay compactly behind its intrcnchments. 

 Despite this disadvantage Grant at once attempted to 

 iiis antagonist from his path. Warren, on the 

 right, reached the river at an unguarded ford, and 

 ! without opposition. Kre lie had advanced far, 

 however, he was at lacked by a strong Confederate force, 

 and a (severe conflict ensued, which ended in the re- 

 pulse of the Confederates with the loss of nearly a 

 thousand prisoners. Warren at once proceeded to in- 

 trench his "hosen line without further opposition. 



Hancock crossed on the left, but not with the same 

 cape. A division of i s corps held the river 



at tins point, occupying the bridt-e and a redan shaped 

 battery in front of it. This battery was stormed and 

 t.ikdi. and during the niL'lit the Confederates alt em Pled 

 to burn the bridge. Failing in this, they withdrew 

 from their advanced works lo a stronger position in the 

 rear, and Hancock crossed in the morning without op- 

 position. At the same time Writ'lil crossed above and 

 joined Warren's corps. I'imisidc. in the centre, en- 

 deavored to cross, but without sin 



The position of the Army of (he Potomac wns a 

 pcrilou* ..tie. Its two wings were on the south side of 

 a river difficult t I liable at any moment lo a 



Midden swelling by rains, while the weaker centre, lay 

 north of the river. I/cc's army lay between the two 

 isolating them from ca.-h other, and holding the 

 river so strongly in front of Knrnside that he \\.i^ un 

 nble I.. Kor two days the armies lay thus (acini: 

 each other, when ( ir.int. evidently considering that it 

 would be madness to risk a bat lie under such disadvan- 

 tages of position, secretly withdrew his forces to the 



moved slowly by his left flank towards the Chkka- 

 homiiiy, while Lee kept pace with him by a similar 

 movement to his right, confronting him at even 

 This movement continued till a flank of each army 

 rested upon the Chiekahominy, both armies pro; 

 themselves with breastworks at every point of the 

 movement. They were now on the old battle-field of 

 G allies' Mill, where so fierce a struggle had taken place 

 in lxii iSee I'iMNsri.AK CAMPAIGN.) For the de- 

 tails of the battle which succeeded, and the conclusion 

 of (irant's overland march to Richmond, see < 



II Uiinill. (C. M.) 



WlUvKS, CIIAHI.KS (isol-isw). naval officer and 



explorer, was a nephew of the celebrated John Wiikes, 

 of Kngland. and was horn in New York city. He en- 

 tered the I". S. navy as a midshipman in ISIS, and 

 served live, years on the Mediterranean and 1'aeilie 

 squadrons. In |si>r> lie Uraim- a lieutenant, and in 

 1830 was assigned to the department of charts and 

 instruments, where his bent for science was exercised. 



III 1838 he received the important appointment of 

 commander of the U. S. Exploring Expedition, for 

 which great preparations were made. With six ves- 

 sels well equipped and an able staff of officers (Prof. 

 J. I). I tana being the ceolojiist and mineralogist) ho 

 sailed from Norfolk. Va.. Aug. IS. and visited Madeira 

 and the ( 'ape Verde Islands. Touching South America 

 at Rio de Janeiro, he coasted down the Atlantic and 

 up the Pacific as far as Callao. and thence crossed the 

 ocean to Australia, stopping nt the Samoan Islands 

 and sundry other groups. In 1 lei-ember. IS.i'.l. he 

 started 



the Antarctic 



Fiji and Sandwich Islands were next visited and ob- 

 servations taken on the summit of Manna I/ia. Afier 

 examining the California!! and Mexican coasts in 

 'he ex pod i I ion sailed for liorneo and t lie Cape o! 



.nd returned to New Yoik June lo, Is.pJ. after 

 nearly four years at sea. Charges weie soon pre- 

 ferred against Wiikes hy some of his snbordn 

 he was court martialled. acquitted, and promoted to 

 commander the next year. Mis memorable Xiirmlire. 

 of the expedition, one of the most notable of I/OMTII- 

 mmt publi "itions. came out in six quarto volumes in 

 |s|., \ct initcrial remained for more. An abridg- 

 ment appeared in |s.~>l. a volume on ]\'rstrm -I 

 in 1 s' I'.i. and one on the meteorological oli-crvalions of 



pedition in Is'il. The I/nidon Geogr 

 hono-ed Wiikes with a gold medal in IM^. in 

 recognition of the gains to science throiiL-h his I 

 nf these there \v.. opinion, though 



some of his observations on the Antarctic < '01 

 were afterwards contested by those ,,f !l. M. S. Choi- 



IU1 1 Ut lid Kl VUIJO* 111 .1'Viviii urv: i , w Vj *'** 



from Sydney on a voyage of discovery along 

 irctic Continent, as far as latitude llll J'-. The, 



